桂影空階 · Osmanthus Shadow on Empty Steps

Theme: moonlit longing (round 7) Lead instrument: guzheng

A late-autumn temple courtyard holds this song: osmanthus shadows lie across empty stone steps, a distant bell crosses the mountain, and the guzheng line carries the small sound of falling blossoms. The longing stays narrow: one person under the moon, trying to send one branch of osmanthus across the passes.

Style: a literary Chinese 古風 vocal song, pentatonic-influenced, with guzheng in front, xiao breath tones behind it, and a restrained female silk-and-ink vocal line.

[引子] 桂影落空階 疏鐘度遠山 一庭秋露白 人隔月同寒

[主歌一] 古寺夜初靜 銀河入殿簷 簾低花自墜 香冷不成眠 去年攜手處 曾約桂花前 今宵唯玉佩 清響在衣邊

[副歌] 月照千山外 相思渡幾關 欲寄一枝桂 風露濕雲箋 君若臨秋水 應知此夜圓 我守空階影 花落一聲先

[主歌二] 水漏催三鼓 寒螢度石闌 殘茶凝碧盞 孤燭照青衫 欲問南歸雁 雁影過遙天 不將人間語 只帶月光還

[橋段] 半扉開又掩 霜氣滿香奩 舊詩藏袖底 字字近君顏 若得清光渡 隨君到夢邊

[副歌/終章] 月照千山外 相思渡幾關 欲寄一枝桂 風露濕雲箋 君若逢秋水 莫忘舊時緣 我守空階影 花落到明年

[尾聲] 鐘盡山更寂 香微月未闌 桂花無寄處 一夜滿空階